9 Effective Nursing-Friendly Charities

If it’s all you can do to find the hours to volunteer your time to a good cause, but still want to help make a difference in a medical cause on a larger scale than day-to-day work, don’t worry…

There are dozens of charities well-aligned to advance the ideals of nurses and their patients, on a global scale.

Here are 9 of the most effective charities that are especially meaningful for nurses and other healthcare professionals.

Such charities are formally categorized as effective when they spend at least 75 per cent of their budget directly on programs, have open-book status for disclosure of their financial information, and – most importantly – by the amount of good they do through the extent of help they offer to people:

The nation’s only non-profit organization solely dedicated to using innovative new research to find safer and more effective methods to prevent, treat, and cure lupus, a devastating autoimmune illness that affects 1.5 million Americans.

Breakthroughs so far include a new understanding of the genetics of lupus, why-and-how certain organs are attacked by it, and the biomarkers of lupus development.

Malaria is a mosquito-born disease that kills up to 660,000 people a year, most of whom are African children who have no immunity to the flu-like symptoms that lead to respiratory distress and severe anaemia.

The Against Malaria Foundation distributes insecticide-treated mosquito nets in 35 countries across Africa, Asia, and South America that save lives by protecting against malarial infections.

With a top rating from Givewell.org, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative works in sub-Saharan Africa to provide drugs and health education to protect against schistosomiasis (bilharzia) and other neglected tropical diseases caused by intestinal worms.

SCI surveys countries and creates “risk-maps” that predict infection levels and give direction to their interventions. It also supports impact research and has a strong focus on health education in schools and within communities.

Throughout the world, micronutrient deficiency is the leading cause of mental retardation, preventable blindness and death during childbirth. It can also cause severe birth defects, compromised immune systems, and a host of other conditions.

Project Healthy Children works with governments in developing countries to fortify staple foods such as flour, sugar, rice or oil with micronutrients like folic acid, iodine, iron, vitamin A and zinc.

With a rare A+ rating from charitywatch.org, CancerCare provides free professional counseling, support and education from oncology social workers and leading cancer experts to more than 170,000 patients, survivors, caregivers and other family members affected by cancer each year.

They also provide financial assistance to help cover expenses such as transportation, child care and home care costs related to treatment, giving out more than $22.3 million in financial aid in 2013.

The Deworm the World Initiative works with ministries of health in Africa and India to bring large-scale deworming programs to school children to combat parasitic worm infections that can lead to anemia and malnourishment, which can affect school attendance and threaten the future health of untreated children.

So far, 40 million children in 27 countries have received the cost-effective treatment, which is listed by the Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT as a “best buy” in public health.